Cat-and-Mouse Games

by Lynn Mattioli

From the Editor: Lynn Mattioli was a 1987 NFB scholarship
winner. The following story of compassion and daring-do first appeared in Reflecting
the Flame, the seventeenth in the Kernel Book series of paperbacks we publish
to educate the public about the abilities of blind people. It begins with President
Maurer's introduction:

Not all of us have what it takes to stalk
a mouse through the house. But, as Lynn Mattioli shows us in her story, "Cat-and-Mouse
Games," blindness is not the deciding factor. Lynn is a registered dietitian
employed by Harbor Hospital Center and is president of the Baltimore Chapter
of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. Here is what she has to
say:

My cats, Ben and Jerry, are creatures
of habit. We have a daily routine. When I come home from work, they greet me
at the door and then expect to be fed their dinner. One evening I returned from
work, but they did not greet me at the door. When I went into the kitchen, they
were both sitting on the floor intently watching the refrigerator.

I put out the cat food, but they did not
want to eat. They wanted to keep their cat eyes on the refrigerator. Ben and
Jerry are robust cats, so I know, if they did not want their cat food, something
pretty intense was going on.

I watched them for a while. Ben was sniffing
under the refrigerator. The appliance sits in the corner of the kitchen, so
he was able to get at it from two sides. From time to time he would move around
the refrigerator as if to get at things from a different angle.

Jerry was following his lead as if his
big brother was teaching him something new. From the way they were acting I
suspected we had a mouse in the house. It had not happened before, but, since
I live in an older apartment building, I knew it was possible.

I have never been afraid of mice, but
I knew I did not want one to move in and start a family. At the same time I
did not want to hurt it. I definitely did not want Ben and Jerry to have the
mouse for dinner. I stood there for a while thinking, "How am I going to
catch this mouse if I can't see where it is?" I decided that Ben and Jerry
could help me corner the mouse so that I could grab it and put it outside.

First we needed to get the mouse out from
under the refrigerator. I have an extra long white cane that I use to fish cat
toys out from under the sofa. I used it to check under the refrigerator, but
no mouse came out. So I moved the refrigerator out from the corner, thinking
that might scare it out. But again no mouse.

At this point I started thinking that
Ben and Jerry were sending me on a wild mouse chase. Maybe they were confused.
Maybe there was no mouse. I waited to see what the boys would do next. Ben started
sniffing the grill on the back of the refrigerator. He then tried to climb up
the grill. I figured that had to be where the mouse was hiding. I felt around
the grill but did not feel anything. But then I heard it scurrying up the grill.
So I tapped on the grill. There was a "plop" sound, and the mouse
had fallen to the floor.

Ben and Jerry jumped into action. They
chased the mouse right behind the stereo in the living room. This was not working
well. I was worried I would spend the better part of the evening chasing the
mouse from one appliance to another.

The cats were guarding either end of the
stereo so the mouse could not escape. I used my extra long white cane to direct
the mouse out one end. Ben took charge and chased the mouse into the fireplace.
Luckily the fireplace was free of ashes.

Things were looking up. I thought Ben
had the mouse cornered. Now my dilemma was how to grab the mouse so that neither
of us would get hurt. I decided to use a plastic grocery bag to scoop it up.
I figured the mouse would be unable to bite me through the bag.

When I returned to the fireplace, Ben
was dismayed. He was searching around the fireplace for the mouse, but it was
not there. I searched with him. I felt around the fireplace, but no mouse. Where
could it have gone? How could a mouse escape with two cats and me on its tail?
I didn't think it could have gone up the chimney unless it was Santa Claus mouse.

Ben came to the rescue again. He started
sniffing the fireplace screen. I covered my hand with the bag and felt around
the screen. There was the mouse, clinging to the top of the screen. I scooped
it up and took it outside. I felt so bad for the mouse. It must have been scared.
But at least I was able to get it outside unharmed.

I learned something from this experience.
Initially I did not think I could catch the mouse because I am blind. I thought
the mouse would move too fast for me to find it. I did not think I could catch
it without being bitten. But now I know I was wrong. I found ways to get the
job done. Blindness won't stop me from keeping that mouse out of my house.

To simplify the task next time, I think
I will invest in a live mouse trap. But I would do this whether I was blind
or sighted. It just makes practical sense. I doubt the mouse will be back, though,
with Ben and Jerry on guard. They also keep the elephants away!